Abhanga 286
Hanuman has mastered both desire and the fear of death, and taking refuge in a devoted servant, rather than demanding direct access to the highest, is presented as the right way in.
The verse
काम घातला बांदोडी । काळ केला देशधडी ॥१॥ तया माझें दंडवत । कपिकुळीं हनूमंत ॥ध्रु.॥ शरीर वज्रा ऐसें । कवळी ब्रम्हांड जो पुच्छे ॥२॥ रामाच्या सेवका । शरण आलों म्हणे तुका ॥३॥
Literal translation
Kāma put in chains — kāḷa banished. To him, my daṇḍavat — Hanumantā in the kapi-kula. Body like vajra — engulfs the brahmāṇḍa with the puccha. To Rāma's sevak — Tuka says: I have come for refuge.
मराठी: काम घातला बांदोडी — काळ केला देशधडी. तया माझें दंडवत — कपिकुळीं हनूमंत. शरीर वज्रा ऐसें — कवळी ब्रम्हांड जो पुच्छे. रामाच्या सेवका — तुकाराम म्हणतात — शरण आलों.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| काम घातला बांदोडी | "kāma put in bāmdōḍī (chains / shackles)" |
| काळ केला देशधडी | "kāḷa (death) — made deśa-dhaḍī (banished, sent-out-of-country)" |
| तया माझें दंडवत | "to him, mydaṇḍavat(full prostration)" |
| कपिकुळीं हनूमंत | "Hanumantā in the kapi-kula (monkey-clan)" |
| शरीर वज्रा ऐसें | "body likevajra(diamond / thunderbolt)" |
| कवळी ब्रम्हांड जो पुच्छे | "engulfs thebrahmāṇḍa(cosmos) with thepuccha(tail)" |
| रामाच्या सेवका | "to Rāma'ssevak" |
| शरण आलों म्हणे तुका | "Tuka says: I have come for refuge" |
What it means
A Hanumat-praise abhang continuing the cluster (284-287). Three claims:
- काम घातला बांदोडी — काळ केला देशधडी — kāma in chains, kāḷa banished. The two universal-foes of the bhakta:
- Kāma (desire / craving) — put in chains. Hanuman has bound desire.
-
Kāḷa (death / time) — banished from the country. Hanuman is cira-jīvī (immortal); he has outlasted death. Both the desire-foe and the death-foe are subdued by Hanumat.
-
कपिकुळीं हनूमंत — शरीर वज्रा ऐसें — कवळी ब्रम्हांड जो पुच्छे — Hanumantā in the kapi-kula — body like vajra — engulfs the brahmāṇḍa with the tail. The cosmic-and-physical scale. Body of vajra (thunderbolt-diamond — indestructible). Tail that engulfs the cosmos. Hanuman is both physical-bhakta and cosmic-being.
-
रामाच्या सेवका — शरण आलों — to Rāma's sevak — I have come for refuge. The closing-saraṇa. Refuge in Rāma's-sevak (= not directly to Rāma, but to Rāma's-servant). The Hanumat-sevak channel is the bhakta's first-refuge.
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram praises Hanuman as someone who has already conquered the two things that trouble every human being — he has put desire in chains and driven death itself out of the country, so to speak, having outlasted time as an immortal being. His body is described as unbreakable as a thunderbolt, yet his tail is vast enough to encircle the entire universe — he is at once a real, physical devotee and a cosmic being beyond ordinary scale. So Tukaram doesn't rush to ask for Rama directly; instead he bows and takes refuge in Rama's devoted servant Hanuman first, showing that approaching the divine through a devoted intermediary, rather than demanding direct access, is itself the right way in.
मराठी: तुकाराम हनुमंताचा गौरव करतात, कारण त्याने प्रत्येक माणसाला त्रास देणाऱ्या दोन गोष्टींवर आधीच विजय मिळवला आहे — त्याने कामवासनेला बेडी घातली आहे आणि मृत्यूलाच जणू देशाबाहेर हाकलले आहे, कारण तो अमर असून काळालाही मागे टाकतो. त्याचे शरीर वज्रासारखे अभेद्य आहे, तरीही त्याची शेपटी संपूर्ण ब्रह्मांड वेढून घेण्याइतकी विशाल आहे — तो एकाच वेळी खराखुरा, प्रत्यक्ष भक्त आणि सामान्य मापाच्या पलीकडचा वैश्विक असा दोन्ही आहे. म्हणून तुकाराम थेट रामाकडे मागणी न करता, प्रथम रामाचा निष्ठावंत सेवक हनुमंत यांना शरण जाऊन नमस्कार करतात — यातून हेच दिसते की थेट प्रवेशाची मागणी करण्याऐवजी एखाद्या निष्ठावंत मध्यस्थामार्फत देवाकडे जाणे हाच योग्य मार्ग आहे.
Where this applies
- Kāmaandkāḷa are Hanumat's specialties. Refuge for these.
- Vajra-body + cosmic-tail. Both local and cosmic.
- Refuge through the sevak channel. Don't demand direct-access.